Birdsong
by Meliorism
Summary: Robin was used to seeing copycat vigilantes; people who were both inspired by the Justice League and wanted to make a difference as well, or had too much time on their hands and paraded around in a makeshift costume pretending to fight crime. He'd thought it was going to be the same thing with this one calling herself "Oriole" but it seems he was mistaken. Robin-centric. (HIATUS)
1. Chapter I

Disclaimer- Young Justice © DC Comics & Warner Bros. Animation

A/N- Had the idea stirring around in my head for a while, decided to see where it would take me. This is the result.

_-Birdsong-_

She was different. She may not have been busting up smuggling trades at Gotham's southward harbor, but there was no way he was going to leave a girl in a brightly colored costume to her own business- not that he was anyone to judge on the matter. He follows her to the theatre district, the night air whipping at his hair. She's got some skill; he saw her leap and bound over and across buildings with relative ease. Climbing fire escapes with little to no sound so as not to disturb the inhabitants. He lands upon the roof of a building that overlooks a public plaza and watches as she plops down near the edge. She crosses her legs and leans back with hands on either side of her, cape rippling off her shoulders. He peers at the costume from where he is hiding. Okay, so it's nothing like what those cheap wannabe vigilantes put together, and maybe not _as_ bright as his. He can see the orange of her gloves, a bit of white making up the interior of her otherwise black cape. Her outfit had clearly been designed by a professional; probably someone in the filmmaking business as it looked a bit more stylistic. He leans over from his hiding spot carefully and takes note of the beaked domino mask that covers her eyes.

His eyes catch movement: her lips. She's speaking. He makes out the words.

_Do you need something?_

So she knows. He's quite stunned and a little impressed; he still managed to surprise the others whenever he pulled his disappearing act or "ninja-thing" as Wally had dubbed it. This girl –whoever she was- obviously had training of some sort if she could see through his stealth abilities. Casually stepping out from the shadows, but still on his guard, Robin approaches her. He notices that her head is turned only slightly in his direction, not looking at him fully. He smirks.

"Gotta say, you're a notch above the others, I've never seen any of them pull off half the stuff that you're doing."

She doesn't respond immediately, and for a brief moment he thinks she took it as an insult. It did sound a bit more teasing than he intended.

"Glad I could keep you entertained Boy Wonder."

Her voice is dulcet and cultured; she's older than him he presumes. The jest isn't harsh or sardonic, it's laced with amusement. Robin chuckles at this and folds his arms across his small chest.

"So, what are you doing out here?" he asks "not that I don't like new things, but Gotham's already got a colorful bunch of loonies running around, good and evil."

"Enjoying the night air I suppose," she replies

"Really?" he doesn't believe her "a simple walk couldn't satisfy you?"

"Walking the streets of Gotham alone at night," her tone is sarcastic "not a smart idea."

_True_ he nods "neither is scaling rooftops with a grappling hook."

He sees her lips twitch upwards in a smirk

"Touché."

All chatting and banter aside, he has to put on his "serious business" face and uncover why she's running around like a vigilante. If he doesn't do it, then his mentor will, and he knows how Batman can be during his interrogations. He'd scare the heck out of this girl, and Robin didn't want that.

"Listen, you've obviously got some skill, I can tell," his voice is unwavering "but this sort of thing is a dangerous job. As much as I'd like to have someone else to hang around while slugging criminals, it's not risk I'm willing to take."

"I could be endangering myself and those affiliated with me," she states almost monotone

"Not only that, but if someone mistook you for an ally of me or Batman, things would get messy."

Finally she turns her head to look at him fully, the white lenses of her mask betraying no trace of emotion on her admittedly pretty features. It makes all the more motivated to keep this girl off the streets and out of harm's way, he doesn't want her scarred by the tragedy of crime. He watches as she stands, her midnight hair wisping from the breeze. She's taller than him by at least two heads, and yet her form is not imposing.

"Yeah, that doesn't exactly sound like a walk in the park," she says

Robin rubs the back of his neck "I don't want to be the one preaching the hardships of being a superhero, because it's so not my forte, but it's better than having the Bat do it."

She turns back towards the city below them, her tabi boots peeking out over the edge of the roof. He'd be lying if he said it didn't unnerve him a bit.

"Well, I guess I have to hang up the old colors then," her tone is mocking this time.

He sighs a little. This one is going to be a handful, for both him and Batman. He knows she's not going to quit anytime soon; while she won't be fighting the likes of Clayface or Killer Croc, he'll still have to keep an eye out for her.

_Oh well_, he thinks _at least things will be a little more interesting._

"Just try to stay out of the limelight," he advises

"Will do," she replies leaning closer towards the edge. She stops for a moment and turns in his direction "taking a precaution here, it's _Oriole_."

Her alias he realizes. Before he can speak, she tips over and plummets no- flies through the air. Her cape stretched taught just as he had seen many times by his mentor. His eyes widen just a tad behind his mask and he wonders if she's even better than he expected. He'll have to run a thorough investigation once he gets back to the Batcave.


	2. Chapter II

_-Birdsong-_

_-II-_

Bruce is not happy. Neither is he.

She's blind.

It would explain how carefully she carried herself and how she only turned in his direction when he spoke to her, never fully looking at him. Every move she made was precise, every surface she touched she made sure her body was pressed firm against it. Her motor skills were no doubt excellent for being handicap and her posture was superb, but that didn't change the fact that she was freaking _blind_!

He's never known too many blind superheroes. None actually.

Bruce pulls up her data on the computer. Olivia Kovács. She's a certified 15 year old American girl, though Dick thinks her last name might be Swedish or something. Everything from her known relatives to medical record shows up. She's surely not hiding anything, he notes at how easy it was to gather information of her. He stares at one portion of the screen, blindness caused by cataracts 5 years ago. He frowns and looks up her identification pictures; the left one taken approximately prior to her visual impairment shows a pretty young girl, hair a midnight black, skin of olive tint and grey eyes piercing the camera as she smiled toothily. The right one showed the same pretty girl but her smile noticeably smaller, her lips were closed and a once magnificent gaze now dulled and muted. She looked sad, just like how Dick felt.

No, guilty.

He should've studied her more carefully. Dick was so busy being curious and entertaining the idea of having another bird in the sky with him, he didn't realize how critical the situation was. He did warn her to stay off the streets, but now he thinks how much his heart wasn't in it. He glances at his mentor who glares forward while Alfred calmly sets a steaming mug of coffee beside him; he mutters a 'thank you' before the butler goes to attend his business elsewhere in the Batcave.

"She will not be doing this again," Bruce voice is a deep growl.

It wasn't up for debate. Dick knew what was going to happen; Bruce was going to confront this Olivia girl and scare her into submission, probably warning her about her family or the authorities. As much as he wanted to see what this girl could offer, it was out of the question. He scolded himself internally and would later take 2 hours' worth of training to punish himself for such a sloppy mistake.

_She's blind you idiot! _His mind berates _him you let your stupid teenage hormones get the best of you._

True. He didn't have to look at Bruce's disapproving stare to know this. It was a rookie mistake; Dick Grayson didn't make too many mistakes, and Robin the Boy Wonder sure as hell didn't. He walked away from the computer screen and off towards the gym, his blue eyes downcast.

* * *

A/N- Short chapter is short.


	3. Chapter III

_ -Birdsong-_

_ -III-_

"_You can't dictate what someone else does with their life. If you do, you're only restricting their freedom, their ability to choose."_

It's a halfway decent argument, what's impressive is the way she stands her ground. Her head tilted upwards as she faces him. Robin thinks her sightlessness gives her an extra boost because she can't see Batman's intimidating scowl. Her voice wavers only slightly but she's still doing a very good job. His mentor's arms are crossed, he's frustrated with her, this adamant young woman who refuses to give in and go back to being a regular helpless handicap.

"If you want to turn me over to the authorities fine," she continues in her cultured voice "tell my family, go right ahead. My safety is important I am aware, but how I decide to insure it is within my grasp, not yours."

He's appalled at the guts she has to stand up against the Bat; either she's fearless or foolish. A little of both he decides silently. Many of the copycat wannabes tried to pull the 'rights' and 'free country' bravado, all ending with a bruised jaw or black eye. The way she said it was anything but bravado, she spoke it like a vow, a creed, a truth. He watches as Batman looms menacingly over her, Robin knows he would never harm her intentionally, Batman never harms the innocent. Still, he can't help the dread building in his stomach. He's worried for her. After what seems like an hour, he speaks.

"Stay away from the crime districts."

It's an order. Robin's eyes widen behind the lenses of his domino mask. He didn't drag her into police custody or douse her with knockout gas and return her home.

"We'll be keeping an eye on you."

His heart is soaring, he can't believe it. She wouldn't be dealing with criminals alongside them, but she was free to roam her area however she pleased. He felt joy and nervous excitement a tingling in the tips of his fingers and swelling in his chest. He keeps watching. While he didn't turn her in, he knows his mentor has something else in stored for her, something else up his gauntlet. Robin will worry about that later; right now he focuses on the older girl.

She nods in satisfied agreement; the Dark Knight studied her for a moment before turning with a swish of his cape and glancing towards him. Robin catches his signal and launches his grappling gun in synch with his mentor; before he swings down he shoots her cheeky grin, which she returns with a wry grin of her own. He doesn't know how she does it, but she knows where he is. Seeing her pleased expression he buzzes with giddiness and swings down.

Robin can't help but laugh as he flies through the air

He visits her; sometimes with permission, sometimes without. It's all worth it, though. She doesn't seem too bothered by him; in fact he thinks she actually kind of enjoys having her around. She can match his quips with her own, they talk about stuff like music and books, and he even made her giggle once with his unique wordplay. He's never once challenged her though; part of him wants to see how well she can handle herself, while another part keeps reminding him that she's blind. Robin knows its offensive to her, even if he's never voiced it aloud.

He knows she can tell

It was one night after a heist by the Riddler and Mad Hatter that he went to go see her. Robin had familiarized her district pretty well, very theater-oriented. Wondering somewhere in the back of his mind if she was into ballet, opera and stuff. He flipped through the air, landing on a fire escape, balancing easily on the railing when he caught a glimpse of orange out of the corner of his eye. It was her, Oriole. She was on the move!

Robin shot his grappling gun of at the nearest building, and swiftly began chasing after her. He was running a foot behind her when he called her by her alias; careful in case there was anyone around eavesdropping.

"Oriole!"

She kept running but slowed down a fraction to acknowledge she'd heard him. Robin took the time to study her movements; body language was a key factor in associating with her. The boy wonder came up beside her as they ran.

"What's the matter?" he asked

Upon reaching the edge of the next roof, she crouched and inclined her head outwards. He looked in the direction her chin was pointing: a parking garage. He peered and saw a group of people; men judging by their stocky figures, a parked car opposite a large van, they were shuffling around, while there were at least 2 other people secured a few inches away.

"I'm not seeing any unmarked equipment, so it's not a drug trade," he muttered

"Kidnapping," she suggested

"Possibly," he answered "Batman is too far from here, most likely with the commissioner detailing-

Before he could finish, she had gone ahead. He blinked in astonishment before quickly going after her. Handling thugs of a lesser intelligence was no problem; he'd already typed in a call to the nearest police department requesting an officer and linking his current location. He could do this no problem, but there was the factor of Oriole…

The thugs shouted in alarm at their entrance. Robin sighed; he much would've preferred to use his stealth tactics before engaging them. There were four of them, no firearms in sight, only a steel pipe, baseball bat and other blunt force objects. His mind went on high alert as he saw them charge at Oriole, the biggest one aiming his weapon at her. Robin acted fast, dodging a swipe at his side and jabbing at his attacker's jaw, he pushed off of their stomach, making sure to use extra force to impair them before leaping at the large aggressor. He flipped in the air and planted the heels of his feet in the larger man's face. He staggered back with a curse, dropping his bat.

"You go check on the victims, I'll handle the four stooges!" he ordered

He didn't see the disapproving frown she gave him before going to work. The thugs were advancing on him; Robin leapt back from the steel pipe that hit the ground where he stood moments ago. Ducking and rolling underneath his assailant's legs, remembering to strike at the groin. He weaved out of the embrace of one who tried to grab him with a laugh and did another somersault; these poor schmucks had no game! He delivered a roundhouse kick to a rather chubby looking one and blocked a right cross aimed at his side, driving his gloved fist into the opposing radius. Two down, two more to go.

Suddenly hands grabbed at him from behind, constricting him in a tight hold and lifting him off the ground. He grunted, and struggled.

"I didn't sign up to be taken down by a ten year old!" the thug growled

"Thirteen, but I can see how you'd get confused," Robin jerked his head back and butted his offender in the face.

The arms around him grew slack and he easily freed himself, the moron groaned as he fell to the ground covering his bleeding nose. Robin only stood proudly before the fallen adversary, arms crossed over his chest in amusement.

"You criminal types were never good at math," he spoke "See, that's three of you. Now where'd chuckles get to?"

The answer came in the form of a blow to his back that sent him off balance. He rolled onto his side before quickly getting to his knees, looking up at the angry giant that descended upon him. Robin staggered, trying to get back up, but the blow to his back was flaring with pain. He readied into another roll but stopped when he saw a familiar flash of orange. Oriole did had back-flipped from wherever her position and dug her heels sharply into the man's clavicle, Robin heard an unsettling pop but could only watch as the bigger man yelled in alarm. The older girl landed in front of him and chopped at his left tibia. Another pop, this one a bit louder and the boy wonder winced. The attacker went down, fingers curling as he shuddered from the shock to his body. Oriole stood there with her back facing him for a moment before speaking.

"You good?"

"Y-yeah," he nodded baffled "where did _that_ come from?"

She turned her head to the side and he could see the whites of her beaked domino mask.

"Training," was her simple reply "the victims were drugged, ether most likely. Give them another two hours and they should awaken, provided the substance is cleared out of their system by the proper paramedics."

"Police are already on their way," he replied getting up and walking over to her side "I sent out a call right before you jumped in, another minute and they'll be here."

Oriole nodded "shall we round up our prizes?"

His grin was small "no good letting them escape."

Once done tying up the thugs next to the van, they inspected the inside of the unmarked green vehicle and discovered the obvious workings of human trafficking. The cops had arrived; Oriole hung back and remained silent while Robin gave the officers a quick statement before vanishing after his fellow bird when all was finished. They sat out on the roof of a townhouse complex enjoying the night air as the rush of crime-fighting wore off, Robin turned to look at her tranquil expression. Seeing her in action sent goosebumps along his skin, she was good. Although the sound of fractured or possible broken bone had caught him off guard, and too an extent unnerved him, there was still a spark and fluidity in the way she fought that he wished to see more of.

"So," he began "what kind of training?"


	4. Chapter IV

A/N- Yes, I'm aware that I am late. No, I was not avoiding you. Here is chapter 4, enjoy.

_-Birdsong-_

_-IV-_

His ward was blindly captivated by this girl, this much he was aware of. Curious and fascinated by her, perhaps even a touch of fondness. Bruce was skeptical, judgmental and dismissive. A teenager, no- child running about the streets at night in a costume was hazardous. Of course some would argue this statement against his own ward, but the boy had received the proper instruction on how to defend himself and others against the cruel treatment of crime and corruption. He was initiated. This girl- _Olivia_ was not, at least not to their level. She was a handicap 15-year-old girl, there was no getting past this fact. Bruce felt the weight on his broad shoulders grow heavy at the thought of endangering an otherwise innocent life, a life already tainted by scars.

Still

She proved impressive, albeit grudgingly on his part of admittance. Dick didn't have to explain to him the foiled kidnapping attempt, he already knew. There were cameras in that parking garage, so he saw everything. He saw how she wordlessly checked over the unconscious victims, searching for pulses, drugs and any other signs of abuse before untying them from their bonds and coming to aid his partner in the nick of time. Her moves were a bit unnerving; he heard the clear pop of broken bones. She didn't kill, only incapacitate, but her fighting held an undertone of fierceness. Her aggressor, the tall bulky man certainly wasn't going to be engaging any more criminal acts for a few months.

Bruce rubbed at his tired eyes before looking back at the screen for the hundredth time; this girl had talked backed to him without restraint, her words slightly trembling in the presence of his smoldering persona, but still she combated her argument with a silver tongue against him. There weren't many people who could do that outside some of the major players in his rogues' gallery. Something had to have instigated her into donning that costume and conditioning her body into a capable athletic form. Master Wayne suspected it wasn't because of her visual impairment, no one would just run around in a colorful costume within Gotham City at night, especially not after the speech she gave him. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. She accepted the terms of their agreement; stay out of major crime zones, though that didn't stop her from springing into action to take down a human trafficking scheme that had gone down on the edge of her district. He wasn't taking in another ward; he wasn't some eccentric collector of wayward youths, she clearly already had a family.

The caped crusader frowned and pondered silently to himself

She would have to be watched- surveyed closely, and then he would make the difficult decision of whether or not to invite her under his tutelage. This would take careful planning, something he'd have to stress to Dick once he returned home. In the meantime, he had calls to make and files to research.

He's at Kid Flash's house, or rather Wally's. The two are settled inside the speedsters' room; Dick is on the computer, lightly commenting on how the redhead needs a laptop instead of a desktop monitor while playing Tetris. Wally slouches in the beanbag chair in front of his TV, hand occasionally reaching for the bowl of licorice bits to snack on. It's only when a commercial comes on does the younger boy turn to his friend.

"There's a new bird in town," he commented lightly

Wally's eyes are still glued to the screen "Some nutjob trying to be a hero again?"

Dick shakes his head "Not this time. It's this girl who calls herself _Oriole_."

The speedster turns his head at the mention of 'girl' and Dick rolls his eyes in amusement behind his shades.

"And?" Wally prompts

"She's good. Really good," he explains "I went to go see her the other night and we broke up a kidnapping gig. She's been doing this for two weeks- though not really getting into trouble."

"What do you mean?"

"She's not going around fighting organized crime or prowling around the slums, she's just…there. She has her own agenda, I can tell that much, but I can't get a clear reading on her motives."

Dick leaned back in the chair, fingers curling around his chin in thought. Although she had declared she wasn't after anyone or anything, even keeping her agreement with Batman about staying away from their part of the city (the kidnapping was on her turf, so technically she didn't break the deal), Oriole was still an enigma to him. She was an interesting puzzle, a Rubik's Cube he was having difficulty solving.

Wally watched his friend bury himself in momentary thought. This girl had to have something up her sleeve if Robin was this interested.

"Is she cute?" he finally asked. Partially to break the silence and partly because well…girls, duh.

He looked at Wally, lifting his head in his direction, lips parted as he recalled their countless nightly encounters. Lovely dark hair that fell past her chin, slender legs that moved quickly and quietly across any setting and a cape that fluttered around her athletic form. The girl had a personality too; the quips she matched with his own were an added bonus.

"I guess," he shrugged noncommittal

The redhead grunted and turned back to the TV; Robin was younger than him, too brainy to realize how awesome girls were yet. He silently pledged that once the bird reached his next birthday, he would teach him how to charm any bodacious babe that flew in his direction.


End file.
